Dear Liza,
I showed you the new kind of Art Journal I was starting. It has fabric hinges and a binding you stitch up with the pages at the very end. Besides being something new for me to learn, it has a few advantages.
First, all the pages are made and decorated before they are put into the book. This means that when you are working on a page, it isn’t attached to the book yet. So if you mess it up, you haven’t got a big blot in your book, you simply set that page aside and try again. For nervous artists like me, this is very freeing.
Also, there is not a given number of pages to fill, with awkward blank bits if you run out of story or art. This flexibility is nice.
As to the content of the book, I have been thinking about the places I have lived and how I felt about them, and the places I may live in the future and the hopes I have for them.
Yep, it’s going to be a map book. Maps of houses, neighborhoods, bus routes, and imaginary places. This should come as no surprise. I love maps!
I have my first few pages finished. One is a collage of the world map, made from colored pencils, florist tissue and bits of the Portland map. I’m not sure if it will end up being Page 1 of the book, but it is the first one finished.
The second one is a watercolor of the neighborhood between our house and your favorite, the Slappycakes make-your-own-pancake restaurant.
The next page I am working on will use the Real Estate developer map of our old neighborhood in Salinas. When it is finished, it will get put in a folder and wait for the rest of the pages.
I will keep you posted!
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 